Your honors, it is called sexual assault

RICK CASEY, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle |
November 11, 2007

Memo to federal judges: I respect the fact that you folks know the law. What isn't clear is whether you know the English language.

When a guy asks for a hug from a woman, then against her will puts his hand up under her blouse, pushes her bra up and puts his mouth on her breast, then forces her head down to his crotch, that is not harassment.

It's assault.

Yes, even if the guy is a federal judge.

Because of reporter Lise Olsen's dogged shoe-leather reporting (see today's front page), we now know that this is the way Cathy McBroom, case manager for U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston, described what the judge did to her last March.

As specific as it got

And that's what she told Felicia Williams, another friend who had previously worked as Kent's case manager. Presumably, that's what she also told investigators for the 19 judges who sit on the judicial council of the 5th U.S. Circuit, the New Orleans-based district that includes Texas.

Yet in a public order reprimanding and suspending the judge for four months, the only reference to Kent's attack on McBroom was of a complaint "alleging sexual harassment toward an employee of the federal judicial system."

The order, approved by a majority vote (and I wonder what language the minority wanted), also made mention of "alleged inappropriate behavior toward other employees." That's as specific as it got.

More than stupid remarks

The council, which includes four women and is headed by 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Jones, took actions that are serious in their own culture. Judges don't publicly reprimand and suspend other judges unless they believe the accuser.

But much of the public could assume that Kent had repeatedly made some stupid sexual remarks and possibly patted McBroom on the backside. And maybe he did the same to other female workers.

If McBroom is telling the truth, for the judges to issue a statement only referring to "sexual harassment" is a great disservice not only to her, but to the public as well.

It makes the difference between whether we want Kent off the bench or not. And, if what McBroom says is true, I can't imagine that the public will not want him impeached.

I can't think of a private-sector executive who would survive in his job if he did what McBroom says Kent did. With the possible exception of an NBA general manager, and then only in New York.

Yet this man will return to the bench and not only supervise female employees, but he will be tasked with presiding over trials involving charges of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Kent, who declined to be interviewed by the Chronicle, should not just be worrying about keeping his job, even though it would take a rare impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate to remove him.

He should be concerned about making his case to a criminal jury.

Rusty Hardin, a former prosecutor who represents McBroom, says she will press felony charges. He did not elaborate to Olsen, but I consulted with other attorneys and law professors.

Under state law, it is a second-degree felony for a person to forcibly bring into contact with his sexual organ the mouth of an unwilling person. To attempt a crime is one level less.

Because the alleged incident took place in the federal courthouse in Galveston, it could be prosecuted as a federal felony called "abusive sexual contact." The punishment isn't as severe, but intent need not be proved.

The United States Code gives a definition of "sexual contact" which includes touching the breast, and says a person who "knowingly engages in sexual contact with another person without that other person's permission shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

So, OK, esteemed members of the 5th Circuit judicial council, maybe in your world what McBroom described wouldn't be sexual assault. It would be "abusive sexual contact." That still communicates considerably more than "sexual harassment."